Spring-coupling.



SPRING GOUPLING.

APPLICATION FILED Nov.9,1912.

K. VLLER L E. STBINHART.

,m/ e 1o Q. V

i UMTED STATES' imi*Entr4 euries..

KARELVLLR AND EUGEN STEINHART, or DUssELnonr, @Eismann Assieivons To""RHEINIsoHn METALLWAAREN- Uni) Masonnvnuranrx; `or':DussnLnonrnegerinnen; G-EYRivIANY, e. eoaromaioiv orY GERMANY-testifies; Vly

residing-at. I2 Scharnhorststrasse, Dusseldorf, Germany,1fandEueENSTEINHART, en-

gin'eer, a subject-ot the German Emperor, residingfatll Schlossstrasse,Dusseldorf,-

Germaaiy, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inSpring-Couplings;

and we do hereby declare the-following to be a full, cleai'r, and-exact.description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use. the same.

lIn couplings for vehicles, but more especially for limbers and guns, itis usual toprovide one member et the coupling for example the limberhook, with a' spring and to pivot it to one of the vehicles,` eitherthefront or the rear one. Thelknown constructionscf this` kind have as'a rule a longitudinally placed spring so arranged that thepivotedmember, for example the limber hook, is drawn with the full Aforceoit'the spring' against a block, whereby thisv member is prevented fromrotating relatively' to the vehicle or -ean only be. rotated -byapplication of great force, there being much friction between the limberhook andthe block due to the pressure produced bythe spring. But thearrangement has the disadvantagethat it is very dilii cult to couple thevehicles. On the ether hand when traveling' over uneven ground strainsdeveloped by the inclination of the two axes arc rendered less serious by the very great friction. Other constructions are those in which thecoupling member andthe block against which it is drawn by the springhave a common pivot in the vehicle. In this manner the' coupling can beeasily rotated and is therefore easily accessible and easily connectedor disconnected, but the heavy strains arising during travel-or when theaxes of the'vehicles are inclined are only slightly reduced, namelysolely by the action of the spring. p

According to the present invention the advantagesot' these dilerentconstructions are combined while the disadvantages are eliminated. f

.in the accompanying drawing, Figure il is a vertical longitudinalsectional view. Fig. 2 is a similar view of the spring and its casing,with the draw-bar at right angles Specification of Letters Patent.

-disk g.

' SPRING-courtiers.

Patented Mar. 31, 191%.

f- ,l Application led November 9, 1912. Serial No. 730,43.

to the position shown in Fig. l. Fig. 3 is a plan view. Figs. i and 5are cross sectional views.

On the Wagon-either rear or front-- carrying the Vspring coupling, thehollow bearing a is rigidly fixed and is provided with a bush b havingat one end a largeflange cagainst which the actual coupling memberbears, in this case the limber hook d.

`Within the bush 7) there is a draw bar e which is pivoted to the limberhook (,Z. This bar can rotate on its axis within the bush Z) but only toa limited extent, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5. At its free end the bar ecarries a fixed collar f, which r ceives the prism of the spring 7L.through the intermediate The other end of the spring bears against thedisk 1', forming the end piece of the casing of the spring and restingagainst l shoulder 71; on the bar e. The posit-ion of this shoulder 7cis such that it is distant from the face of the limber hook whichl bearsagainst the flange o, by rather more than the length of the. bush b. lnthe normal position the spring z is compressed between the tvvo disks gand z' and exerts its torce on the limber hook. During travel, however,ythe amount of play between the disk fl and the bush or the bearing a istaken up and the spring l1, comes into operation as soon as the limberhook is lifted owing to a shock between the coupled vehicles. T he playbetween the diski and the bearing ci is practicallyr so small that itonly permits easy rotation of the bar e in the bush b. y

In the example shown the abutment (disk 71) for tho spring is the end ola casing extending over the second abutment (disk g). At the open end ofthis casing there is a screw ca'p mi having an inwardly projectingflange iforming a stop for the disk g'. The shoulder .Z2 can however bedispensed with if the position of the collar'` f on the bar is soselected that 'when set up the bar e has a small` amount ofAlongitudinal play. .ln this manner also the easy rotation 'of the bar inbush Z may be secured.

The arrangement last described has the advantage that the spring is#protected by the casing against damages and moistening. Further it ispossible to carry the spring within the casing on the vehicle and to tensien iteasily whether `or not the spring` may be in position for use.This is different i from the constructions of couplings for ve hicleshitherto known in which the springv must .be tensioned on the rodarranged within the limber arm. This necessitated much time and was verydii'iicultas Ithere was no good access to the spring on account of itsbeing situated below the limber and the key for turning the tensioningscrew could not be well manipulated. According lo our present inventionhowever in which the spring is arranged within a casing having a fixedabutment and a second displace-able abutment the spring can be tensionedwhen not in use by means of a tensioning pin, whereupon the casing maybe shifted and fastened on to the rod. Therefore the spring can `be veryreadily inter# changed in case of itsfbeing broken."

As already mentioned, when tlie'vehicle is at rest, owing tothe smallamount of play between the rotating parts, the limber hook. can beeasily returned and the two vehicles readily coupled. During travel thespring is pressed against the. bearing a through the disk with apressurewhich iso-nly equal to lthe draft, as long as the ground' is level.

On une-ven ground the longitudinal axes of the vehicles are practicallyalways at an angle to each. otheraiid the limber hook inclined eitherupward or downward rela-. tively' to the flange@ of the bush b. rEhel'imberhook being urged by the pressureof the spring h, which isgreaterthan the draft, against the flangejc ifvthe axes of the vehicles assumean angle to each other, rotation of, the ifehicles relatively to eachother about the horizontal axis does, not occur in jerks, but thefriction between the flange c and the limber hook d produces a gradualtransition from one position to the other. f

We claim as our invention:

l. A coupling for vehicles comprising a member capableof rotating abouta horizontal axis, a Ispring acting longitudinally on said member, acasing mounted on said member and inclosing 'said spring, said.

casing having at its opposite ends members forming abutments forA thespring, one lof said members being slidable in said casing,- means forlimiting the' movement of the last mentioned abutment under the recoilof the spring,'and means for holding the .casing onl the couplingmember.

2f A coupling for vehicles comprising a member capable of rotating about`a hori# zontal axis, a spring act-ing longitudinally A v `r 'i on saidmember, a casing mounted on said member and inclosing said spring, saidcasing having at its Aopposite ends membersforming abutments,A for thespring, one of said members'being slidable in said casing,

an end. piece removably mounted on said i casing and forming afstopforthe last mentioned abutment v underl the I 'e'coil ofI the spring, andmeans lmounted on'v the coupling member for holdingl the casing.thereon. 'p

In testimony whereof,- wev have signed this speciication in the presenceo ftwo subscribing witnesses. 1

KARL VLLER; EUGEN sTEiNHART.

Witnesses as to Karl Vllei-:

v HENRY HAsPuR,

VOLDEMAR HAUPT. Vitiiesses as to Eugen Steinhart:

HELEN NUFER, ALBERT Nonna,

l [L s]

